Obama Has High Tolerance for Pot, While L.A. Officials Keep Choking

The Obama administration's decision to leave medical marijuana sellers and smokers alone, as long as they follow state laws, makes Washington look like the cool dad who lets the kids have their fun as long as they don't bring the cops to the house. Meanwhile, L.A. city officials -- who are suddenly cracking down on pot vendors -- are looking more and more like the overprotective parents who won't let the youngsters leave the house on a school night.

L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, who's threatening to put a choke hold on the city's medical marijuana dispensaries, argues that most of our pot shops are in violation of state law. But today's news suggests that the Justice Department won't bother to look into the issue. According to Obama, it's up to the states to figure out their tolerance for the drug.

That leaves Trutanich as the lone warrior against medical marijuana in L.A. Unless he can rally City Council members to suit up and join the battle to protect all of us from pot, which he says contains a harmful pesticide used to kill red ants.

Last week Trutanich was criticized for bullying a cancer survivor and medical marijuana smoker at a neighborhood meeting. Trutanich interrupted Kathryn Shorr before she could finish a sentence and asked her, "How do you like smoking pesticides?" Trutanich's claim is that marijuana sold at the city's dispensaries comes from Mexico and contains a harmful insecticide called bifenthrim that is used to kill red ants.

Medical marijuana advocates say Trutanich is saying whatever it takes to shut down legitimate pot sellers. (On a side note, the city attorney's campaign against marijuana is ironic given that he imagines himself as more "The Dude" than politician). But more importantly, medical marijuana defenders argue that if he's worried about protecting pot smokers from harm, Trutanich should be pursuing sensible regulations that ensure a safe product.

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